How did the Revolution Affect the Everyday Life of People of France?

The French Revolution was a major event in the history of Western society and had a great impact on the world today. With the Revolution of 1789, the French overthrew the absolute monarchy and introduced a republic based on the principles of equality, liberty, and fraternity. As the revolution unfolded, the country underwent dramatic changes and was completely transformed from its previous form.

Affect of French Revolution on Life of French People

The everyday life of the French people was affected strongly by the revolution. With the abolition of Censorship and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, Freedom of Speech became a natural right of people. At the same time, Freedom of the Press was also granted. Newspapers, books, pamphlets, and printed photographs were abundant in the cities of France, from where they quickly spread to the countryside.

France before the French Revolution

Before the French Revolution, French society was built on the remains of feudalism, known as the estate system. The first was the clergy, the second was the nobility, and the third was the peasants. Peasants made up the majority of the population of French society, but more than 96% of them had no political or economic power. By contrast, the clergy and nobility controlled most of the French land and held all important government, military, and church positions. This is the pre-French Revolution period, known as the Ancien Regime. 

French society was not only based on feudalism but also focused on the political structure of an absolute monarchy. An absolute monarchy is a form of government that was common from medieval Europe until the late 18th century. It was about a society ruled by an all-powerful king or queen, who had complete control over every aspect of society.

Absolute monarchy often included two main features: Hereditary rules and the sacred rights of kings.  The absolute monarchy of medieval Europe also included the practice of the king’s divine rights.  This promoted the power of the monarch, as the king or queen did not receive power from the people, and thus the people could not control or participate in the rule of the monarch.

Louis XVI was the absolute monarch of France for several years until the French Revolution. Beginning of the reign of Louis XVI. France was under the Ancient Regime, a system based on the feudal tradition of absolute monarchy and estates. The Age of Enlightenment, which occurred throughout the 17th century, began to present Europeans against these principles and instead presented ideas based on liberty and equality. The spread of Enlightenment ideas eventually led to the outbreak of the French Revolution, ultimately resulting in the end of the French monarchy and the death of Louis XVI.

France After France Revolution

Abolition of censorship

1. One important law that came into effect after the storming of the Bastille in 1789 was the aspect of the abolition of censorship. In the Old Regime, all written material and cultural activities could be published or performed only after approval by the censors of the King.
2. Now “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen” proclaimed freedom of speech and expression as a form of natural right.
3. As a result, Newspapers, books, and pamphlets flooded the city and the facet of the united states.
4. All occasions had been defined and mentioned.
5. Freedom of the press intended opposing perspectives can be expressed.
6. Plays, songs, and festive processions attracted humans.
7. The majority of men and women wrote approximately thoughts of justice and liberty.

Censorship did now no longer permit humans to explicit themselves, withinside the shape of books, pamphlets, magazines, etc. After it became abolished, France have become a higher location as humans had been capable of freely explicit themselves. Right to explicit became given to humans, which made their lives higher.

Clothes During French Revolution

When the French Revolution erupted in 1789; following a long time of sociopolitical unrest, supporters of the motive donned politically charged blue, red, and white striped ribbons called cockades, the earliest and maximum prolific image of the revolution. This aggregate of colors (the tricolor) became related to the French innovative beliefs of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Wearing the cockade became so strongly related to democracy (rather than the monocratic device of governing with a king and queen), that it became decreed that all of us now no longer sporting one ought to be regarded as counterrevolutionary. 

When the French Revolution came to an end in 1799, men’s fashion changed. Favoring wool and cotton over silk, and subdued colors over the previously popular powder blues, pinks, and greens, tailcoats and pantaloons became his 19th-century men’s new uniform.

Ending social divisions

The French Revolution destroyed France’s socially discriminatory class system and proclaimed equality for all. This encouraged the educated middle class to occupy positions of responsibility.

Declaration of Human Rights

The Constituent Assembly released a human rights document that recognized political freedoms such as the right to speech, the press, association, belief, property, etc. In the Old Regime all written fabric and cultural activities – books, newspapers, plays – can be posted or achieved simplest when they were accredited via way of means of the censors of the king. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen proclaimed freedom of speech and expression to be a herbal right.

Newspapers, pamphlets, books, and revealed pics flooded the cities of France from wherein they traveled swiftly into the countryside. Plays, songs, and festive processions attracted massive numbers of humans. This became one manner they might draw close and perceive with thoughts along with liberty or justice.

Innovative ideas

The revolution brought revolutionary ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity. These ideas started in France and spread to other regions such as Italy and Germany. Promoting equality, liberty, democracy, and good governance. France became the cradle of democracy.

End of monarchy

The Bourbon Monarchy, which ruled France for over 400 years, came to an end with the French Revolution. The monarchy was abolished in 1792 and replaced by a republican government. After the fall of Napoleon, it was revived by the great powers, but the Bourbon monarchy was already weakened by the changes brought about by the French Revolution and could not survive after 1830.  

Education

During the French Revolution (1789-1799), the state of the country was so unstable that most people think that education is the last thing on the minds of the French during a crisis like this. The truth is, the revolutionary leaders made education a priority. And in the early stages of the revolution, there were many concerns about it, but little institutional action. Nevertheless, “the level of development of the French educational system in 1789 was astonishing for its time. Enrollment in primary schools was relatively high, with 74,747 pupils in 562 secondary schools, 40,000 of them received scholarships.”

FAQs on Affect of French Revolution on Life of French People

Question 1: How did the Revolution Affect the Everyday Life of the People of France?

Answer:

French Revolution had a huge and far sighted impact that had a probable change in the world more than any other Revolution. Its impact include rise of modern nationalism, spread of liberalism and igniting other revolutions.

Question 2: What was the French Revolution and why did it happen?

Answer:

The French Revolution began in 1789 and lasted till 1794. King Louis XVI needed more money but had failed to raise more taxes, when called for the Estate General meeting. This on reverse turned into protest about the immediate conditions of France.

Question 3: How did the French Revolution bring about the growth of new ideas in Europe?

Answer:

The French Revolution was a historic event that affected people all over Europe. It spread the ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity and gave rise to the spirit of nationalism. The sense of brotherhood and unity inspired people. Nations began to be formed by people who shared a common history. England and France were the first European countries to emerge as independent states.

Question 4: Describe the impact of the French Revolution on French life. 

Answer: 

Divorce was legalized and  both women and men could apply. Women were able to get vocational training, become artists, and run small businesses  The 1791 Constitution  began with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizens. It proclaimed that freedom of speech and opinion and equality before the law are the natural rights of all human beings.

Newspapers, pamphlets and printed photographs appeared incessantly in French cities. From there they traveled to the country. These publications described and discussed  events and changes  in the country. 

Question 5: What role did philosophers and thinkers play in the French Revolution? Illustrate this with three examples.

Answer:

Philosophers and thinkers believed that no group in  society should be privileged by birth. They supported a society based on freedom and equality. In his two treatises on government, John Locke sought to refute the doctrine of the monarch’s sacred and absolute rights.

Rousseau took this idea further, proposing a form of government based on a social contract between people and their representatives. In The Spirit of Law, Montesquieu proposed a separation of powers within  government between  legislative,  executive and judicial branches.